Chapter 43: Chapter 43 Opening the Stone_1

Master Huang stepped forward, his tone hinting a slight notion of dealing with an incorrigible child, "Young man, are you nitpicking here? With your so-called insight, what can you possibly discern?"

Before Ye Fei could react to these words, Zhang Yuying immediately got excited.

She bounced in front of Ye Fei, mocking him, "See? I told you were pretending to know what you don’t. You’re still being stubborn!"

"With Master Huang here, let’s see you keep up the act! Hmph!"

Zhang Yuying was elated beyond measure, certain that Ye Fei had finally been exposed.

Ye Fei smiled.

He asked Master Huang, "So, Master Huang means to say you have some guidance to offer?"

Master Huang chuckled, "To guide would be an overstatement, but with over thirty years of experience in stone appraisal, sharing some insights should pose no problem!"

"I’m curious, why did you dismiss those two pieces of rough stone earlier as if they were beneath your consideration?"

Ye Fei casually replied, "They’re just two worthless stones; they hold very little jade within. They’re not worthy of much attention."

"Oh?"

Master Huang frowned.

He thought to himself that he wasn’t mistaken; this youngster was indeed brash.

Master Huang quickly grabbed the two stones and carefully appraised them.

After a while, he suddenly burst into laughter.

It seemed necessary to teach this ignorant young man a lesson today.

To prevent his arrogance from leading to a significant loss in the future.

But before Master Huang could open his mouth, Ye Fei spoke first.

"Sir, I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply, but your appraisal of these two pieces of rough stone might not be entirely accurate!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Yuying couldn’t close her grinning mouth.

Following that, the crowd of onlookers grew.

"Master Huang is making a move? That’s quite rare. Just to get him to act costs at least hundreds of thousands!"

"Who’s that young man, dare to talk back to Master Huang??"

"Ha, who does he think he is, questioning Master Huang? Master Huang hasn’t made a mistake in years, alright!"

"What an ignorant fool. Let’s see how he embarrasses himself in a bit!"

More and more people surrounded the area.

A bunch of them were waiting to see a good show.

This kind of public face-slapping scene could never be too much.

Master Huang, smiling, patted Ye Fei on the shoulder, "Young man, don’t be too confident. You should know, it’s not bad to be modest."

Ye Fei raised an eyebrow.

This felt like an expert preaching to a layman.

He smiled and said, "Master Huang, I think it is you who should be modest."

At this remark, the crowd was in an uproar.

Everyone began mocking Ye Fei, and the accusations grew louder.

Master Huang sneered with contempt.

In his field of expertise, no one dared to question him.

He coldly said, "In fact, regarding these two pieces of rough stone, you accidentally got it half right."

"One of them indeed contains a small amount of jade, but not the ’very little’ you claim!"

"As for the other one, with more than thirty years of experience, I can see there’s a piece of fine jade within it! Invaluable!"

Boom!

The crowd immediately erupted into noise.

"I’ve seen that piece of rough stone before! Why didn’t I buy it!"

"Ah, if only I had Master Huang’s skills in stone appraisal, I’d have made a fortune by now!"

No one doubted Master Huang’s words; they were just extremely regretful that the stone wasn’t in their possession.

Master Huang, listening to the people’s praise, was ecstatic on the inside.

But he had to maintain an appearance of a master who remained unphased by honor or disgrace.

"Young man, sometimes when you speak and act, don’t be too full of yourself."

"I’m just an old man; it won’t bother me too much, but when you’re out and about, it’s easy to offend many. They won’t indulge you!"

Ye Fei’s expression cooled.

What did this mean?

Scolding him?

When had he, the esteemed doctor of a thousand years, ever been spoken down to like this?

Ridiculous!

Ye Fei gently picked up the two stones and looked at Master Huang.

"When I say they’re worthless stones, that’s what they are."

"If your thirty years of skill can’t discern that, it only shows that your eyes have grown dim, nothing more."

Silence.

The place was exceptionally quiet.

Someone dared to speak to Master Huang like this?

And in the rough stone market?

This was a blatant challenge!

Audacious and arrogant!

"Who in the world is this guy, where did he come from? Master Huang is just conversing with him, and he thinks he’s such a big deal?"

"Such audacity, he’s like a pig pretending to be an elephant - acting as if he’s the real deal!"

Zhang Yuying kept rolling her eyes, wondering what was going on with Ye Fei, still putting on an act at this point.

She just couldn’t understand him!

Master Huang’s face was a mixture of shadow and light.

His reputation was being insulted; how could he stand this?

Immediately, Master Huang took the two stones over to the stone-cutting master.

"It seems we need to cut these two stones open today to salvage my reputation," he declared.

Ye Fei also smiled lightly, "I advise you not to cut them open, or else your reputation will truly be gone."

"Humph!" Master Huang’s old face tensed, "Young man, you’re speaking great nonsense!"

The crowd of onlookers also echoed their support for Master Huang.

"Master, just cut it open. We trust you!"

"Hurry and let everyone see. Teach this kid a good lesson and see if he dares to spout nonsense again!"

"Right, he’s scared, that’s why he doesn’t want you to cut it!"